For each ONE scoop of perlite (about the size shown in the pic) I put approximately TWO same-sized scoops (well, handfuls, I estimated) of:
potting soil for african violets.. and for mj ... again, both like the same pH soil (around 6.5 "slightly acidic") The mixture of perlite to potting soil i chose was somewhat arbitrary, but it seemed like a good balance between aeration and having a solid anchor for the plant's roots. I did 3 scoops of perlite and 6 handfuls of soil altogether, mixed it up.....
...and transplanted at the height I wanted for the plant. I filled in the edges and top with pure potting soil, because perlite tends to float to the top of soil when you water, plus the soil already comes with SOME perlite in it.
Now we feed hydroponically for the rest of its life, as it no longer has any soil-bound nutes. Can't wait to see the results, this is the first time I've gotten creative with a truly soilless mix (by definition... of course it has "potting soil" in it, but nothing of significant nutritional value). Those secondary nodes you see below are going to FLY out the sides of the plant as soon as the roots get their bearings.
I have also found that giving the roots more vertical is a good idea and will do as you suggested next time.
will be following, much intrested in your soilless grow, everything looks really good! are you using a pH tester from the fish store? i went and grabbed one today. i want to check my water before i start using it.
No it's specifically for testing soil, from a popular home goods department store that has a nursery. Everyone's gotta have one of those in their country....
1) 2 liter soda bottles, cut off about 4 inches tall, with soil less than an inch from the top. 2) Plants are from seed since mid December. 3) 1.5-3 feet but they all have about the same amount of nodes I doubt they will go hermie on me because they are already well-indicated and have shown no signs of male-ness anywhere near any of the flowers. Plus I just transplanted 2 of them, going to do 3 more tonight. Please see my post about cloning at this thread if you can help me with that. It's the next step after repotting the non-clone candidates.
ok here goes... I bought a bunch more stuff tonight. I have: Potting Soil for Cactus & Succulents (bone meal added) NPK of 0-1-0 (or 0.0 - 0.1 - 0.0 in %) ------------ Potting Soil for African Violets (pH adjusted to 6.5) ------------ 100% Sphagnum Peat Moss ------------ Perlite I was hoping I could make a decent mix between the four of these, especially hoping someone else who is experienced with soil[less] mixes could give me an idea of the ratios, say 2:4:1:2 or something like that. Oh, I also have a 50lb bag of dolomitic lime and wondering if I should incorporate it into the mix, and how much. It'd be nice to hear everyones ideas on this... Thanks for the help, you are all a part of this grow =================== P.S. the Cactus soil contains composted material, sand, perlite, bone meal, and a "wetting agent". The Violet soil consists of composted materials, sphagnum peat, perlite, and a "wetting agent".
Damn I hope it's not bad etiquette to post in my own journal as often as I do... I decided to analyze the pH of the various soils I have (new) and I found something interesting. The sphagnum peat has a pH of 5.5 (acidic). The cactus soil is somewhere between 7.0 and 7.5, or if you disagree see the attached picture, that was a hard reading to call. For the record the top one [7.5 alkaline] is dark green, not dark blue as it appears in the picture.. The solution still looks pretty light bluish in real life.. where the hell is light bluish on this chart?? ) I am assuming the perlite hasn't got much bearing on the final pH of my mix, and the Violet soil is already supposedly 6.5 (I should test it anyway as a control, but if it's right, I wasted a test pill ) Now I am thinking something like: 2:2:1:3 (cactus : violet : peat : perlite) if I don't involve lime at all. But I would like to include more peat and less perlite than that, so I guess I would have to know the first thing about lime dosage and sadly I do not.
Potted 2 more tonight. Mix ended up being more like 2:5:1:3 (one got extra inches of violet soil on top after transplanting, the other i mixed same extra amt. in homogenously before transplanting). The two pots I did yesterday are 2:1 violet : perlite with a couple inches of violet on top. The original big-pot-plant (double meaning, there) is entirely potted in schultz's 8-12-8 potting soil "Perfect for indoor & outdoor plants" "flowers, houseplants, tropicals, vegetables, seedlings, containers & hanging baskets". They can't seem to make up their minds. Anyway, again, mix is somewhat arbitrary... but seemed like a decent balance for drainage, aeration, ability to hold moisture, and proper pH. I have one more to re-pot, can wait a couple days on her, so I will take any suggestions as to a different mix to try.
HIGH All, right on sounds like you have everything under control...before doing more soil mixes why not just try the one you have now? I'm sure you'll be happy with what your doing.
well pretty much for experimentation purposes. I know a lot more than I ever did on this grow, so I'm getting a little comfortable with trying different things. I will not be heartbroken if one of the mixes doesn't work out well.. because I will have a few different ones which I can observe and eventually improve upon... if I get a decent harvest from only one plant I will be satisfied and then move on to the big guns... (bought seeds)
Repotted the last one (small bushy, see pics page 2) in a 50/50 mix of cactus soil (w/ bonemeal, 0-1-0) and perlite. Then I covered with an inch or so of the 8-12-8 slow-nute soil on top. I expect this one to be a strong flowerer if it can handle the high pH (I intend to let it become acidic over time.) Earlier, I decided to use the rest of the african violet soil (and added ~10% slow-nute soil.. might as well use it up) to re-pot my smallest plant. Not that --^ one, but an even smaller one i didn't mention before. I was going to exclude it from the remainder of this grow (kill it), but... If the transplant does well it's going to a new place [of a trusted friend] and into a small grow box. Strictly for their personal relaxation pics later... zzzzz
Hehe, you haven't been paying attention carefully, BoB. The Cactus soil has a higher PH (somewhere between neutral and slightly alkaline) therefore if I let it become MORE acidic [than it is], the pH should drop into a more desirable level. For MJ, I've read, around 6.5 (slightly acidic) is ideal. +/- for different strains I suppose. BoB, this is not for you, but.. For those reading this who are not familiar with pH... As shown on my soil tester (pics above) Above a pH reading of 7.0 is alkaline (base) / high pH. Below a reading of 7.0 is acidic / low pH. Neutral pH=7.0, neither acidic nor basic. Acids and bases cancel each other out, so if you mix high and low pH soils, after several waterings the whole thing should be generally neutral (or a little high or low depending on the proportions of the mix). Also the pH of the water you use affects the soil pH over time, as well as nutrient feedings. If pH is TOO far off, your plant just freaks out and the roots can't function and you run into any number of nutrient deficiency problems. What I am hoping is that the high pH of the cactus soil is NOT too far off, during the time that it is not yet very acidic. Because of what I put my soil through, I bet you it will become ideal by the time I throw it into flowering, at which point the plant will gladly soak up all that delicious bone meal phosphorus and give me gorgeous flowers. I hope! Cross your fingers for me
BoB makes a good point, testing soil right out of the bag is not the same as testing your soil after a plant has been living in it for a while. I decided this GJ was getting a little boring so I decided to take some more pictures. I'll start with a better shot of my soil pH tester
Lower internodes are too big. This is my tallest (from soil level to the main grow tip) Even taller than the mystery plant. Not sure if it's safe to clone while N-deficient.
Poor lighting early on. Situation has since changed and will be changing for the better yet again in the near future.